Guest Post by Fanta, INTJ

Murdoch Mysteries (TV series)

Si: Detective William Murdoch is a very serious, by-the-book, conventional man who is deeply attached to his Catholic religious upbringing. He has a strong sense of duty guiding him when he has to make difficult and personal choices: he chooses justice over stopping the marriage of the woman he loves. He upholds the law to a tee, always tells the truth (even when it leads to  freeing a guilty criminal), and minutely follows criminal and scientific procedures. From very early on, Murdoch has developed a keen interest in scientific knowledge, spending so much personal time absorbing all kinds of information through this hobby that he became an expert without consciously wanting to.

Te: As a detective, Murdoch has a systematic approach to organize and analyse facts, usually through writing them on a board, which he always references to explain his progress to his peers. He has a hard time dealing with the fanciful theories Constable Crabtree often throws at him, preferring physical evidence at all times. Murdoch can voice his disagreement to authority figures, although he will keep it respectful and within the boundaries of their defined roles (SiTe). He takes responsibilities when he makes mistakes, and walks the extra mile when pursuing as trail, until the crime is solved. Murdoch uses many of the gadgets he invents to make his investigations more effective.

Fi: Murdoch rarely displays his emotions and deals with emotional distress on his own. There are conflicts between his inner definition of righteousness when it clashes with his traditional Catholic values  (he turns Dr. Ogden down after learning about her abortion) or with established rules (he violates police procedures to find evidence in order to exonerate Dr. Ogden from murder). When he decides to violates established (external) rules, he uses Fi to defend his actions.

Ne: On rare occasions, Murdoch decides to explore new things, although he does so within the confine of familiar structures (for example, when he gets drunk on absinthe ‘for science’). He also demonstrates innovation by using inventions and new technologies as forensics tools. Caught in the Ne inferior grip when he fails to stop the wedding of Dr. Ogden, he starts over in the Yukon, abandoning the comforting life he had built for himself in Toronto. He doesn’t read criminals very well and relies on facts alone to determine their motives.

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Author’s Note: I have used the TV series character, not the book version

I saw Murdoch typed as a INTJ , but he is not a Ni user. Unlike Sherlock Holmes or Gregory House, when he solves a crime, it is rarely through instantaneous associations. It is triggered through the discovery of new (Ne), detailed (Si) empirical (Te) evidence, which prompts Murdoch to re-imagine (Ne) the past (Si) and add within the memorized crime scene this new element.  His being a detective is not part of a personal long-term goal to see justice done, but rather how he objectively works towards expressing his traditional values, and using his scientific knowledge. Murdoch is also too respectful of all authority figures, social norms, and regulations to be INTJ.